


stunning and cadaverous

by starspecters



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, M/M, taako's voice is so weird, this is kind of a mess but I Tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 12:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8371756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspecters/pseuds/starspecters
Summary: Pushing the bowl aside, Taako hops on the counter, playing with the end of his skirt and the tops of his stockings. “We’re pretty great stuff, you and me.”
-
He's not one to complain about something like this, but Taako is hardly expecting to stumble on Kravitz lounging in his bed -- and yet, that's what he finds.





	

Taako likes to think he’s is pretty well-versed in… _things_.

And, granted, Taako likes to think a lot of basic forms of flattery about himself, but -- like, on a scale of ‘Magnus not being able to tell a Magic Missile from a Ray of Frost from his own _ass_ ’ to ‘Magnus understanding how to whittle an award-winning chair from rotting wood _and_ knowing how to drive nearly any vehicle he touches _and_ mastering his natural charm into something usable’, Taako thinks he at least falls into the category of ‘vague understanding that Death incarnate doesn’t make social calls-- sorry! Take a number, or down the nearest bottle of poison.’

And yet… well.

“Hey there, handsome,” Taako says, coolly -- or at least, an attempt to level his voice to something more even, and not seem off-kilter at the fact that some fine-looking dude is lounging on his bed. He shuts the door behind him, shedding himself of his cloak and hat but keeping the umbra staff in hand, twirling it in idle animation or in some form of comfort it’s come to grant him over the months.

“Taako,” Kravitz replies curtly, all decrescendo, like a spigot of high confidence abruptly twisted into a meager leak. His position on the bed is stiff, foreign, and Taako is struck with the urge to give the dude a bottle of wine or a candlelit bubble bath or _something_ \-- he poses himself like he’s got a stick up his ass, and it’s making Taako feel unwelcome in his own damn bedroom.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you -- really, my dude, I’m charmed --, but I don’t remember doing any dying lately…?” Tossing the staff aside, Taako slips onto the bed next to him, encroaching _just_ passed Kravitz’s personal space, just enough for some of his usual button-pushing; he props his elbow up on Kravitz’s shoulder and rests his hand under his chin, eyelashes fluttering. “Unless this is for pleasure.”

“Ah, no--” And yes, there it is; Kravitz softens beneath Taako’s arm and bends backwards softly like wet clay, like his pottery from the good ole Chug ‘n’ Squeeze, like a vase shaping down into a bowl underneath him. “Well, yes, I guess actually. There’s no _bounty_ on you or anything, I just felt like…” His voice trails off as Taako compensates for the new distance Kravitz put between them by laying a hand on his knee.

“Felt like…?” Taako urges, grin plucking at the corners of his mouth.

“Dropping in?” But it’s all question, not even the subtle undertones of self-assurance from earlier, and _really_ , Taako kinda wonders how someone who’s essentially a corpse can still blush. Kravitz’s hand finds his and Taako is almost, _almost_ , able spit out some terrible flirty quip before Kravitz is removing it from his knee and letting go, smoothing down the fabric of his pantsuit in practiced strokes, despite the fact that Taako hadn’t even seen a wrinkle or fold.

“But still,” Kravitz says, and this time his tone’s level, voice never straying above or below what Taako would consider an ‘inside volume’. It’s soft but very much present, the unswayable buzz of magic that hums through the walls of the base to regulate temperature -- background noise and yet, more solid than that. “There are some matters of importance to discuss, regarding the -- er -- events that occurred during our last encounter.”

“Of course, of course,” and now _he’s_ the icy one, standing up abruptly to go mindlessly amble about the kitchen or something and not bothering to check if Kravitz follows. Of course, there’s always some kind of business aspect to their meetings, of fucking course. “Bunch of funky, ghostly shit going on with that staff, right? What’s up with _that_ , my guy?”

“Taako, that’s not--”

The cupboards slam behind him in a vicious staccato rhythm as he pulls cooking shit out of them randomly, bowls and plates finding their way to the counter in a dramatic whirl of wizard hands and Mage Hand alike. “I mean, what does that mean for _me_? Good ole Taako was doing just fine with his cool magic umbrella before it started trying to off tall, dark, and handsome over here, and now it’s going all fucking rogue on me, like what does that mean for Taako, or the team, or my ability to do cool shit--” A hand finds his wrist, stopping him mid-stir of the butterscotch pudding he’d started to make with vigour, cold enough to startle him into dropping his spoon.

“Taako -- well, I meant about _us_.” And Taako turns to find Kravitz smiling the barest amount, a scarcely perceptible fishwire-wind near the right corner of his mouth, and Taako’s stomach drops with the feeling of levitation without his feet ever leaving the ground.

“Uh,” he says, rubbing absently at the pudding under his nails with the pad of his thumb, soft yellow cream waxing off onto the floor below him, before he forces his brief moment of flustered scrambling to pass. “Right, darling. _Obviously_.” Pushing the bowl aside, he hops on the counter, playing with the end of his skirt and the tops of his stockings. “We’re pretty great stuff, you and me.”

“Yeah,” Kravitz says, and it’s so _earnest_ the way he speaks; it’s not something Taako’s used to being directed at him -- not nowadays, and certainly not back… _then_. “Yeah, I think so, too.”

“Well?” Taako makes a vague ‘ _please continue_ ’ motion with a swirl of his wrist, leaning back on his other hand. “Do go on.”

“I just -- I had to ask,” Kravitz face is wiped free of his smile, which is a damn shame in Taako’s book, but instead he gets to watch Kravitz fret at his bottom lip with his teeth, so he supposes it’s not all loss. “Is this -- are we… a thing?”

“Hm.” Straightening, Taako fidgets with the lines of the counter absently, tracing them with his nails. “I mean, I think I established how I feel about that the last time we had our little outing. I guess the question is… what do you want, Krav?” He leans in until their eyes are inches away because this is him, this is Taako, who only takes initiative when he wants something, and this -- _this_ \--

“I think that was pretty obvious the second I showed up, Taako.” Almost teasing in its fondness, leaning in _and_ \--

\-- _this_ is something Taako wants.

(“Uh, Taako,” Kravitz says, and Taako pulls away with a long-suffering huff.

“Yes, darling?” Testily, barely paying him any mind.

“You’re levitating.”)

**Author's Note:**

> YO i marathoned all of the adventure zone in like. a week and i really wanted to contribute! the fan creators in this fandom are absolutely incredible, and i hope my contribution is up to par aaah 
> 
> i stayed home from school and wrote this while replaying kingdom hearts with my sibling for the 50th time so i didn't do much self-editing, sorry! all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> please come talk to me about TAZ on: [twitter](https://twitter.com/lancemccIain) | [tumblr](http://mort3mer.tumblr.com/) !!


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